REI Announces Closing of SoHo Flagship in Puck Building

Outdoor gear retailer Recreational Equipment Inc., better known as REI, continues to downsize, announcing the closure of its SoHo outlet by the end of the year.

The outdoor apparel and equipment chain, run as an employee-owned cooperative, leaves behind a 35,000-square-foot vacancy in Kushner Companies’ Puck Building at 295 Lafayette Street. The brand’s flagship New York City location opened in 2011.

“After thoughtful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to close our SoHo store in late 2026,” an REI spokesperson said in a s. Since opening in 2011, this location has held a special place for us and we are grateful to our team, our members and customers, and the broader community for their support over the past 15 years.”

The announcement follows the Seattle-based company’s January 2025 decision to end programs offering experiences such as adventure travel, day tours and classes. 

REI announced in January that 2024 found it at a “break-even” point financially, and that it planned to lay off about 400 employees. The company will also be closing two other stores in Boston and Paramus, N.J.

“We thank REI for their partnership and wish them continued success following the planned closure of their SoHo location at The Puck Building,” a Kushner spokesperson said in a statement. “This iconic corner retail space has already drawn significant interest from a number of quality tenants.”

The Puck Building isn’t likely to feel much pain from the loss financially, as Kushner recently landed several major tenants in the landmarked building.

Around this time last year, OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, signed a 90,000-square-foot lease there, and, while New York University also exited the building, it was replaced by the U.K.-based hedge fund Quadrature, which signed a lease for 30,034 square feet in November 2023.

SoHo has been one of the strongest post-pandemic retail markets in New York City.

CBRE reported that the Prince Street corridor in SoHo saw the highest quarterly increase in pricing in the third quarter of 2025 at $1,000 per square foot, a 33 percent quarter-over-quarter climb.

Over 45,000 square feet of retail leases were signed in the third quarter across nine separate deals, according to CBRE.

(Disclosure: Joseph Meyer, chairman of Commercial Observer owner Observer Media, is married to Nicole Kushner Meyer, president of Kushner Companies.)

Mark Hallum can be reached at mhallum@commercialobserver.com.